Using Web-Based Search Data to Study the Public’s Reactions to Societal Events: The Case of the Sandy Hook Shooting

Abstract

BackgroundInternet search is the most common activity on the World Wide Web and generates a vast amount of user-reported data regarding their information-seeking preferences and behavior. Although this data has been successfully used to examine outbreaks, health care utilization, and outcomes related to quality of care, its value in informing public health policy remains unclear.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the role of Internet search query data in health policy development. To do so, we studied the public’s reaction to a major societal event in the context of the 2012 Sandy Hook School shooting incident.MethodsQuery data from the Yahoo! search engine regarding firearm-related searches was analyzed to examine changes in user-selected search terms and subsequent websites visited for a period of 14 days before and after the shooting incident.ResultsA total of 5,653,588 firearm-related search queries were analyzed. In the after period, queries increased for search terms related to “guns” (+50.06%), “shooting incident” (+333.71%), “ammunition” (+155.14%), and “gun-related laws” (+535.47%). The highest increase (+1054.37%) in Web traffic was seen by news websites following “shooting incident” queries whereas searches for “guns” (+61.02%) and “ammunition” (+173.15%) resulted in notable increases in visits to retail websites. Firearm-related queries generally returned to baseline levels after approximately 10 days.ConclusionsSearch engine queries present a viable infodemiology metric on public reactions and subsequent behaviors to major societal events and could be used by policymakers to inform policy development.

Responses to mass shooting events

“…This finding expands on earlier work by Menachemi et al. () on Sandy Hook and corresponding Yahoo! search engine queries, which showed a comparable period of engagement.…”

“…The substantial attention given to the coverage of public mass shootings in the media is rooted, at least in part, in the interplay between the interest among the general public to seek and consume information, and the motivation of media outlets to provide information about such events. The interest of the general public in mass shooting events can be attributed to a range of motivations, from general curiosity or a desire to obtain information about current news to a concern for public and personal safety (Gunn, Ter Horst, Markossian, & Molina, ; Menachemi, Rahurkar, & Rahurkar, ). Levin and Wiest () recently explored public interest in information after mass shootings (specifically school shootings) identified information seeking, specifically in the context of public and personal protestation and safety, as a generally strong motivator for consuming news about such an event.…”

Information-seeking in the Wake of Tragedy: An Examination of Public Response to Mass Shootings Using Google Search Data

“…It is possible that a weapon like a shotgun or assault rifle used in a shooting may prompt greater public fear than the use of handguns since these weapons may be perceived as more powerful or deadly. This threat may prompt people to look into more information about gun control, restrictions on access to particular types of weapons, or purchasing their own gun for protection (Menachemi et al 2017;Wallace 2015). Menachemi and colleagues (2017) define mass shootings as social crises that are typically accompanied by collective anxiety and often lead to public outcry.…”

“…Much of the scholarly research on mass shootings has focused on individual characteristics of the perpetrator (Duxbury, Frizzell, and Lindsay 2018;Fox and DeLateur 2014) or factors that influence how shootings are covered and reported in the news (Duwe 2000;Schildkraut, Elsass, and Meredith 2018), rather than the public's response to these events. The limited examinations of public response after mass shootings have typically been descriptive in nature (Niforatos, Zheutlin, and Pescatore 2019), relied on public opinion polls (Lee et al 2020;Schutten et al 2020;Wozniak 2017), or assessed single-case studies (Menachemi, Rahurkar, and Rahurkar 2017). The limited existing research on public response to mass shootings is notable given that collective interest in the wake of these shooting events can potentially mobilize social movements to influence policy development and gun violence reduction efforts (Burstein 2003;McGinty, Webster, and Barry 2013).…”

Internet search patterns reveal firearm sales, policies, and deaths

“…Studies analyzing gun-related Internet searches have found that U.S. search volume for the term "buy gun" is correlated to the number of firearm background checks performed in the U.S. between 2008 and 2015 (Pearson's r = 0.84) 12 . Studies have also found that search volume for firearm-related terms changes in response to mass shootings 5,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18] . These studies measured overall increases in the volume of search terms before and after mass shootings and found increases of tens or even hundreds of percent.…”